text:
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Funk | |
James Brown, the founding father of funk
Stylistic origins |
Cultural origins | Mid-1960s,[1] United States |
Typical instruments | |
Derivative forms | |
Subgenres | |
Go-go – P-Funk – Deep funk – Nu-funk (complete list) |
Fusion genres | |
Acid jazz - Afrobeat – Free funk - Funk metal – Nu metal - Funk rock – Funky house - G-funk – Go-go – Jazz funk - Skweee – UK funky | |
Other topics | |
Musicians |
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid- to late 1960s when African American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and rhythm and blues (R&B). Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground. Funk songs are often based on an extended vamp on a single chord, distinguishing them from R&B and soul songs, which are built on complex chord progressions. Funk uses the same extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths.
Like much African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass, Hammond organ, and drums playing interlocking rhythms. Funk bands sometimes have a horn section of several saxophones, trumpets, and in some cases, a trombone, which plays rhythmic "hits". Funk originated in the mid-1960s, with James Brown's development of a signature groove that emphasized the downbeat—with heavy emphasis on the first beat of every measure, funky bass lines, drum patterns, and syncopated guitar riffs.[2] Other musical groups picked up on the rhythms and vocal style Brown developed and the funk style began to grow. In 1970, Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" reached #1 on the charts, as did "Family Affair" in 1971. While much of the written history of funk focuses on men, there have been notable funk women, including Chaka Khan, Labelle, Brides of Funkenstein, Klymaxx, Mother's Finest, and Betty Davis.
Many of the most famous bands in the genre also played disco and soul extensively. Funk derivatives include funk rock (e.g., Red Hot Chili Peppers); boogie (or electro-funk), an electronic music; electro music, a hybrid of electronic music and funk; funk metal (e.g., Living Colour); G-funk, a mix of gangsta rap and funk; Timba, a form of funky Cuban popular dance music; and funk jam (e.g., Phish). Funk samples have been used extensively in genres including hip hop, house music, and drum and bass. It is also the main influence of go-go, a subgenre associated with funk.[3]
Look up funk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The word funk initially referred (and still refers) to a strong odor. It is originally derived from Latin "fumigare" (to smoke) via Old French "fungiere" and, in this sense, first documented in English in 1620. In 1784 "funky" meaning "musty" is first documented, which, in turn, led to a sense of "earthy" that was taken up around 1900 in early jazz slang for something deeply or strongly felt.[4][5][6]
In early jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to "get down" by telling one another, "Now, put some stank on it!". At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Funky. The first example is an unrecorded number by Buddy Bolden remembered as either "Funky Butt" or "Buddy Bolden's Blues" with improvised lyrics that were, according to Donald M. Marquis either "comical and light" or "crude and downright obscene" but, in one way or another, referring to the sweaty atmosphere at dances where Bolden's band played.[7][8] As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when "funk" and "funky" were used increasingly in the context of jazz music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company. According to one source, New Orleans-born drummer Earl Palmer "was the first to use the word 'funky' to explain to other musicians that their music should be made more syncopated and danceable."[9] The style later evolved into a rather hard-driving, insistent rhythm, implying a more carnal quality. This early form of the music set the pattern for later musicians.[10] The music was identified as slow, "sexy", loose, riff-oriented and danceable.
A great deal of funk is rhythmically based on a two-celled onbeat/offbeat structure, which originated in sub-Saharan African music traditions. New Orleans appropriated the bifurcated structure from the Afro-Cuban mambo and conga in the late 1940s, and made it its own.[11] New Orleans funk, as it was called, gained international acclaim largely because James Brown's rhythm section used it to great effect.[12]
Funk creates an intense groove by using strong guitar riffs and bass lines. Like Motown recordings, funk songs used bass lines as the centerpiece of songs. Slap bass's mixture of thumb-slapped low notes and finger "popped" (or plucked) high notes allowed the bass to have a drum-like rhythmic role, which became a distinctive element of funk.
In funk bands, guitarists typically play in a percussive style, often using the wah-wah sound effect and muting the notes in their riffs to create a percussive sound. Guitarist Ernie Isley of The Isley Brothers and Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic were notably influenced by Jimi Hendrix's improvised solos. Eddie Hazel, who worked with George Clinton, is one of the most notable guitar soloists in funk. Ernie Isley was tutored at an early age by Jimi Hendrix himself, when he was a part of The Isley Brothers backing band and lived in the attic temporarily at the Isleys' household. Jimmy Nolen and Phelps Collins are famous funk rhythm guitarists who both worked with James Brown. On Brown's Give It Up or Turnit a Loose (1969), Jimmy Nolen's guitar part has a bare bones tonal structure. The pattern of attack-points is the emphasis, not the pattern of pitches. It's as if the guitar is an African drum, or idiophone. Note that the measures alternate between beginning on the beat, and beginning on offbeats.
Funk uses the same extended chords found in bebop jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths. However, unlike bebop jazz, with its complex, rapid-fire chord changes, funk virtually abandoned chord changes, creating static single chord vamps with melodo-harmonic movement and a complex, driving rhythmic feel. Some of the best known and most skilful soloists in funk have jazz backgrounds. Trombonist Fred Wesley and saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis and Maceo Parker are among the most notable musicians in the funk music genre, with both of them working with James Brown, George Clinton and Prince.
The chords used in funk songs typically imply a dorian or mixolydian mode, as opposed to the major or natural minor tonalities of most popular music. Melodic content was derived by mixing these modes with the blues scale. In the 1970s, jazz music drew upon funk to create a new subgenre of jazz-funk, which can be heard in recordings by Miles Davis (Live-Evil, On the Corner), and Herbie Hancock (Head Hunters).
The distinctive characteristics of African-American musical expression are rooted in sub-Saharan African music traditions, and find their earliest expression in spirituals, work chants/songs, praise shouts, gospel, blues, and "body rhythms" (hambone, patting juba, and ring shout clapping and stomping patterns). Funk music is an amalgam of soul music, soul jazz, R&B, and Afro-Cuban rhythms absorbed and reconstituted in New Orleans.
New Orleans
Gerhard Kubik notes that with the exception of New Orleans, early blues lacked complex polyrhythms, and there was a "very specific absence of asymmetric time-line patterns (key patterns) in virtually all early twentieth century African American music ... only in some New Orleans genres does a hint of simple time line patterns occasionally appear in the form of transient so-called 'stomp' patterns or stop-time chorus. These do not function in the same way as African time lines."[13]
In the late 1940s this changed somewhat when the two-celled time line structure was brought into New Orleans blues. New Orleans musicians were especially receptive to Afro-Cuban influences precisely at the time when R&B was first forming.[14] Dave Bartholomew and Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd) incorporated Afro-Cuban instruments, as well as the clave pattern and related two-celled figures in songs such as "Carnival Day," (Bartholomew 1949) and "Mardi Gras In New Orleans" (Longhair 1949). Robert Palmer reports that, in the 1940s, Professor Longhair listened to and played with musicians from the islands and "fell under the spell of Perez Prado's mambo records."[11] Professor Longhair's particular style was known locally as rumba-boogie.[15]
One of Longhair's great contributions was his particular approach of adopting two-celled, clave-based patterns into New Orleans rhythm and blues (R&B). Longhair's rhythmic approach became a basic template of funk. According to Dr. John (Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr.), the Professor "put funk into music ... Longhair's thing had a direct bearing I'd say on a large portion of the funk music that evolved in New Orleans."[16] In his "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," the pianist employs the 2-3 clave onbeat/offbeat motif in a rumba-boogie "guajeo".[17]
The syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to swung subdivisions) took root in New Orleans R&B during this time. Stewart states: "Eventually, musicians from outside of New Orleans began to learn some of the rhythmic practices [of the Crescent City]. Most important of these were James Brown and the drummers and arrangers he employed. Brown's early repertoire had used mostly shuffle rhythms, and some of his most successful songs were 12/8 ballads (e.g. 'Please, Please, Please' (1956), 'Bewildered' (1961), 'I Don't Mind' (1961)). Brown's change to a funkier brand of soul required 4/4 metre and a different style of drumming."[18] Stewart makes the point: "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in the years after World War II played an important role in the development of funk. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes."[19]
1960s: James Brown and the development of funk
Little Richard's saxophone-studded, mid-1950s R&B road band was credited by James Brown and others as being the first to put the funk in the rock'n'roll beat.[20] Following his temporary exit from secular music to become an evangelist in 1957, some of Little Richard's band members joined Brown and The Famous Flames, beginning a long string of hits for them in 1958.
By the mid-1960s, James Brown had developed his signature groove that emphasized the downbeat—with heavy emphasis on the first beat of every measure to etch his distinctive sound, rather than the backbeat that typified African American music.[21] Brown often cued his band with the command "On the one!," changing the percussion emphasis/accent from the one-two-three-four backbeat of traditional soul music to the one-two-three-four downbeat – but with an even-note syncopated guitar rhythm (on quarter notes two and four) featuring a hard-driving, repetitive brassy swing. This one-three beat launched the shift in Brown's signature music style, starting with his 1964 hit single, "Out of Sight" and his 1965 hits, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)".
Brown's style of funk was based on interlocking, contrapuntal parts: funky bass lines, drum patterns, and syncopated guitar riffs.[2] The main guitar ostinatos for "Aint" it Funky" (c. late 1960s) is an example of Brown's refinement of New Orleans funk— an irresistibly danceable riff, stripped down to its rhythmic essence. On "Aint" it Funky" the tonal structure is bare bones.
Brown's innovations led to him and his band becoming the seminal funk act; they also pushed the funk music style further to the forefront with releases such as "Cold Sweat" (1967), "Mother Popcorn" (1969) and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" (1970), discarding even the twelve-bar blues featured in his earlier music. Instead, Brown's music was overlaid with "catchy, anthemic vocals" based on "extensive vamps" in which he also used his voice as "a percussive instrument with frequent rhythmic grunts and with rhythm-section patterns ... [resembling] West African polyrhythms" – a tradition evident in African American work songs and chants.[22] Throughout his career, Brown's frenzied vocals, frequently punctuated with screams and grunts, channeled the "ecstatic ambiance of the black church" in a secular context.[22]
External video | |
Watch: "Clyde Stubblefield/ Funky Drummer" on YouTube |
After 1965, Brown's bandleader and arranger was Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Ellis credits Clyde Stubblefield's adoption of New Orleans drumming techniques, as the basis of modern funk: "If, in a studio, you said 'play it funky' that could imply almost anything. But 'give me a New Orleans beat' - you got exactly what you wanted. And Clyde Stubblefield was just the epitome of this funky drumming."[23] Stewart states that the popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s."[19] Concerning the various funk motifs, Stewart states: "This model, it should be noted, is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."[24]
In a 1990 interview, Brown offered his reason for switching the rhythm of his music: "I changed from the upbeat to the downbeat ... Simple as that, really."[25] According to Maceo Parker, Brown's former saxophonist, playing on the downbeat was at first hard for him and took some getting used to. Reflecting back to his early days with Brown's band, Parker reported that he had difficulty playing "on the one" during solo performances, since he was used to hearing and playing with the accent on the second beat.[26]
Late 1960s – early 1970s
Other musical groups picked up on the rhythms and vocal style developed by James Brown and his band, and the funk style began to grow. Dyke and the Blazers, based in Phoenix, Arizona, released "Funky Broadway" in 1967, perhaps the first record of the soul era to have "funky" in the title. In 1969 Jimmy McGriff released Electric Funk, featuring his distinctive organ over a blazing horn section. Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band was releasing funk tracks beginning with its first album in 1967, culminating in the classic single "Express Yourself" in 1971.
Also from the West Coast area, more specifically Oakland, San Francisco, came the band Tower of Power, which formed in 1968. Their debut album East Bay Grease, released 1970, is considered by many enthusiasts as an important milestone in funk. Throughout the '70s, TOP had many hits, and the band helped to make funk music a successful genre, with a broader audience.
In 1970, Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" reached #1 on the charts, as did "Family Affair" in 1971. Notably, these afforded the group and the genre crossover success and greater recognition, yet such success escaped comparatively talented and moderately popular funk band peers. The Meters defined funk in New Orleans, starting with their top ten R&B hits "Sophisticated Cissy" and "Cissy Strut" in 1969. Another group who defined funk around this time were The Isley Brothers, whose funky 1969 #1 R&B hit, "It's Your Thing", signaled a breakthrough in African-American music, bridging the gaps of the jazzy sounds of Brown, the psychedelic rock of Jimi Hendrix, and the upbeat soul of Sly & the Family Stone and Mother's Finest.
P-Funk: Parliament-Funkadelic
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
A new group of musicians began to further develop the "funk rock" approach. Innovations were prominently made by George Clinton, with his bands Parliament and Funkadelic. Together, they produced a new kind of funk sound heavily influenced by jazz and psychedelic rock. The two groups shared members and are often referred to collectively as "Parliament-Funkadelic."
The breakout popularity of Parliament-Funkadelic gave rise to the term "P-Funk", which referred to the music by George Clinton's bands, and defined a new subgenre. Clinton played a principal role in several other bands, including Parlet, the Horny Horns, and the Brides of Funkenstein, all part of the P-Funk conglomerate. "P-funk" also came to mean something in its quintessence, of superior quality, or sui generis.
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
The 1970s were the era of highest mainstream visibility for funk music. In addition to Parliament Funkadelic, artists like Sly and the Family Stone, Rufus & Chaka Khan, the Isley Brothers, Ohio Players, Con Funk Shun, Kool & The Gang, The Bar-Kays, Commodores, Roy Ayers, Stevie Wonder, among others, were successful in getting radio play.
Disco music owed a great deal to funk. Many early disco songs and performers came directly from funk-oriented backgrounds. Some disco music hits, such as all of Barry White's hits, "Kung Fu Fighting" by Biddu and Carl Douglas, Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby", Diana Ross' "Love Hangover", KC & The Sunshine Band's "I'm Your Boogie Man", "I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan (also known as The Queen of Funk Soul), and Chic's "Le Freak" conspicuously include riffs and rhythms derived from funk. In 1976, Rose Royce scored a #1 hit with a purely dance-funk record, "Car Wash". Even with the arrival of Disco, funk became increasingly popular well into the early 80s.
Funk music was also exported to Africa, and it melded with African singing and rhythms to form Afrobeat. Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, who was heavily influenced by James Brown's music, is credited with creating the style and terming it "Afrobeat".
Jazz funk
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
In the 1970s, at the same time that jazz musicians began to explore blending jazz with rock to create jazz fusion, major jazz performers began to experiment with funk. Jazz-funk recordings typically used electric bass and electric piano in the rhythm section, in place of the double bass and acoustic piano that were typically used in jazz. Pianist Herbie Hancock was the first of many big jazz artists who embraced funk during the decade. Hancock's Headhunters band (1973) was in the jazz-funk style.The Headhunters' lineup and instrumentation, retaining only wind player Bennie Maupin from Hancock's previous sextet, reflected his new musical direction. He used percussionist Bill Summers in addition to a drummer. Summers blended African, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Brazilian instruments and rhythms into Hancock's jazzy funk sound.
On the Corner
On the Corner (1972) was Miles Davis's seminal foray into jazz-funk. Like his previous works though, On the Corner was uniquely experimental. Davis stated that On the Corner was an attempt at reconnecting with the young black audience which had largely forsaken jazz for rock and funk. While there is a discernible funk influence in the timbres of the instruments employed, other tonal and rhythmic textures, such as the Indian tambora and tablas, and Cuban congas and bongos, create a multi-layered soundscape. From a musical standpoint, the album was a culmination of sorts of the musique concrète approach that Davis and producer Teo Macero (who had studied with Otto Luening at Columbia University's Computer Music Center) had begun to explore in the late 1960s. Both sides of the record featured heavy funk drum and bass grooves, with the melodic parts snipped from hours of jams. Also cited as musical influences on the album by Davis were the contemporary composer Karlheinz Stockhausen,[27][28]
1980s and stripped-down funk
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
In the 1980s, largely as a reaction against what was seen as the over-indulgence of disco, many of the core elements that formed the foundation of the P-Funk formula began to be usurped by electronic machines and synthesizers. Horn sections of saxophones and trumpets were replaced by synth keyboards, and the horns that remained were given simplified lines, and few horn solos. The classic keyboards of funk, like the Hammond B3 organ, the Hohner Clavinet and/or the Fender Rhodes piano began to be replaced by the new digital synthesizers such as the Yamaha DX7. Electronic drum machines such as the Roland TR-808 began to replace the "funky drummers" of the past, and the slap and pop style of bass playing were often replaced by synth keyboard bass lines. As well, the lyrics of funk songs began to change from suggestive double entendres to more graphic and sexually explicit content.
In the late 1970s, the electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) began experimenting with electronic funk music, introducing "videogame-funk" sounds with hits such as "Computer Game" (1978), which had a strong influence on the later electro-funk genre.[29] In 1980, YMO was the first band to use the TR-808 programmable drum machine,[30] while YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos" developed the beats and sounds of electro-funk that same year,[31] influencing later electro-funk artists such as Afrika Bambaataa[31] and Mantronix.[32]
Rick James was the first funk musician of the 1980s to assume the funk mantle dominated by P-Funk in the 1970s. His 1981 album Street Songs with the singles "Give It To Me Baby" and "Super Freak" resulted in James becoming a star, and paved the way for the future direction of explicitness in funk.
Beginning in the late 1970s, Prince used a stripped-down, yet dynamic, instrumentation similar to James. However, Prince went on to have as much of an impact on the sound of funk as any one artist since Brown; he combined eroticism, technology, an increasing musical complexity, and an outrageous image and stage show to ultimately create music as ambitious and imaginative as P-Funk. Prince formed The Time, originally conceived as an opening act for him and based on his "Minneapolis sound", hybrid mixture of funk, R&B, rock, pop & new wave. Eventually, the band went on to define their own style of stripped-down funk based on tight musicianship and sexual themes.
Similar to Prince, other bands emerged during the P-Funk era and began to incorporate uninhibited sexuality, dance-oriented themes, synthesizers and other electronic technologies to continue to craft funk hits. These included Cameo, Zapp, The Gap Band, The Bar-Kays, and The Dazz Band all found their biggest hits in the early 1980s. However, by the latter half of the 80s, funk had lost its commercial impact.
Influenced by Yellow Magic Orchestra[31] and Kraftwerk, the American musician Afrika Bambaataa developed electro-funk, a minimalist machine-driven style of funk with his single "Planet Rock" in 1982. Also known simply as electro, this style of funk was driven by synthesizers and the electronic rhythm of the TR-808 drum machine. The single "Renegades of Funk" followed in 1983.
Late 1980s to present
While funk was all but driven from the radio by slick commercial hip hop, contemporary R&B and new jack swing, its influence continued to spread. Artists like Steve Arrington and Cameo still received major airplay and had huge global followings. Rock bands began copying elements of funk to their sound, creating new combinations of "funk rock" and "funk metal". Extreme, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour, Jane's Addiction, Prince, Primus, Fishbone, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, and Incubus spread the approach and styles garnered from funk pioneers to new audiences in the mid-to-late 1980s and the 1990s. These bands later inspired the underground mid-1990s funkcore movement and current funk-inspired artists like Outkast, Malina Moye, Van Hunt, and Gnarls Barkley.
In the 1990s, artists like Me'shell Ndegeocello and the (predominantly UK-based) acid jazz movement including artists and bands such as Jamiroquai, Incognito, Galliano, Omar, Los Tetas and The Brand New Heavies carried on with strong elements of funk. However, they never came close to reaching the commercial success of funk in its heyday, with the exception of Jamiroquai whose album Travelling Without Moving sold about 11.5 million units worldwide. Meanwhile, in Australia and New Zealand, bands playing the pub circuit, such as Supergroove, Skunkhour and The Truth, preserved a more instrumental form of funk.
Since the late 1980s hip hop artists have regularly sampled old funk tunes. James Brown is said to be the most sampled artist in the history of hip hop, while P-Funk is the second most sampled artist; samples of old Parliament and Funkadelic songs formed the basis of West Coast G-funk.
Original beats that feature funk-styled bass or rhythm guitar riffs are also not uncommon. Dr. Dre (considered the progenitor of the G-funk genre) has freely acknowledged to being heavily influenced by George Clinton's psychedelic funk: "Back in the 70s that's all people were doing: getting high, wearing Afros, bell-bottoms and listening to Parliament-Funkadelic. That's why I called my album The Chronic and based my music and the concepts like I did: because his shit was a big influence on my music. Very big".[33] Digital Underground was a large contributor to the rebirth of funk in the 1990s by educating their listeners with knowledge about the history of funk and its artists. George Clinton branded Digital Underground as "Sons of the P", as their second full-length release is also titled. DU's first release, Sex Packets, was full of funk samples, with the most widely known "The Humpty Dance" sampling Parliament's "Let's Play House". A very strong funk album of DU's was their 1996 release Future Rhythm. Much of contemporary club dance music, drum and bass in particular has heavily sampled funk drum breaks.
Funk is a major element of certain artists identified with the jam band scene of the late 1990s and 2000s. Phish began playing funkier jams in their sets around 1996, and 1998's The Story of the Ghost was heavily influenced by funk. Medeski Martin & Wood, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Galactic, Widespread Panic, Jam Underground, Diazpora, Soulive, and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe all drawing heavily from the funk tradition. Lettuce, a band of Berklee College Of Music graduates, was formed in the late 1990s as a pure-funk emergence was being felt through the jam band scene.[citation needed] Many members of the band including keyboardist Neal Evans went on to other projects such as Soulive or the Sam Kininger Band. Dumpstaphunk builds upon the New Orleans tradition of funk, with their gritty, low-ended grooves and soulful four-part vocals. Formed in 2003 to perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the band features keyboardist Ivan Neville and guitarist Ian Neville of the famous Neville family, with two bass players and female funk drummer Nikki Glaspie (formerly of Beyoncé Knowles's world touring band, as well as the Sam Kininger Band), who joined the group in 2011.
Since the mid-1990s the nu-funk scene, centered on the Deep Funk collectors scene, is producing new material influenced by the sounds of rare funk 45s. Labels include Desco, Soul Fire, Daptone, Timmion, Neapolitan, Bananarama, Kay-Dee, and Tramp. These labels often release on 45 rpm records. Although specializing in music for rare funk DJs, there has been some crossover into the mainstream music industry, such as Sharon Jones' 2005 appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
In the early 2000s, some punk funk bands such as Out Hud and Mongolian MonkFish perform in the indie rock scene. Indie band Rilo Kiley, in keeping with their tendency to explore a variety of rockish styles, incorporated funk into their song "The Moneymaker" on the album Under the Blacklight. Prince, with his recent albums has given a rebirth to the funk sound with songs like "The Everlasting Now", "Musicology", "Ol' Skool Company", and "Black Sweat".
Funk has also been incorporated into modern R&B music by many female singers such as Beyoncé with her 2003 hit "Crazy In Love" (which samples The Chi-Lites' "Are You My Woman"), Mariah Carey in 2005 with "Get Your Number" (which samples "Just an Illusion" by British band Imagination), Jennifer Lopez in 2005 with "Get Right" (which samples Maceo Parker's "Soul Power '74" horn sound), and also Amerie with her song "1 Thing" (which samples The Meters' "Oh, Calcutta!"). Tamar Braxton in 2013 with The One (which samples "Juicy Fruit" by Mtume).
Women and funk
Despite funk's popularity in modern music, few people have examined the work of funk women. As cultural critic Cheryl Keyes explains in her essay "She Was too Black for Rock and too hard for Soul: (Re)discovering the Musical Career of Betty Mabry Davis," most of the scholarship around funk has focused on the cultural work of men. She states that "Betty Davis is an artist whose name has gone unheralded as a pioneer in the annals of funk and rock. Most writing on these musical genres has traditionally placed male artist like Jimi Hendrix, George Clinton (of Parliament-Funkadelic), and bassist Larry Graham as trendsetters in the shaping of a rock music sensibility"[34](35). Notable funk women include Chaka Khan, Labelle, Brides of Funkenstein, Klymaxx, Mother's Finest, and Betty Davis.
From the early 1970s onwards, funk has developed various subgenres. While George Clinton and the Parliament were making a harder variation of funk, bands such as Kool and The Gang, Ohio Players and Earth, Wind and Fire were making disco-influenced funk music.[35]
Funk rock
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Funk rock (also written as funk-rock or funk/rock) fuses funk and rock elements.[36] Its earliest incarnation was heard in the late '60s through the mid-'70s by musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Steely Dan, Herbie Hancock, Return to Forever, Gary Wright, David Bowie, Mother's Finest, and Funkadelic on their earlier albums.
Many instruments may be incorporated into funk rock, but the overall sound is defined by a definitive bass or drum beat and electric guitars. The bass and drum rhythms are influenced by funk music but with more intensity, while the guitar can be funk-or-rock-influenced, usually with distortion. Prince, Jesse Johnson, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone are major artists in funk rock.
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Go-go originated in the Washington, D.C. area with which it remains associated, along with other spots in the Mid-Atlantic. Inspired by singers such as Chuck Brown, the "Godfather of Go-go", it is a blend of funk, rhythm and blues, and early hip hop, with a focus on lo-fi percussion instruments and in-person jamming in place of dance tracks. As such, it is primarily a dance music with an emphasis on live audience call and response. Go-go rhythms are also incorporated into street percussion.
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Boogie (or electro-funk) is an electronic music mainly influenced by funk and post-disco. The minimalism approach of boogie consisted of synthesizers and keyboards helped to establish electro and house music. Boogie, unlike electro, emphasises the slapping techniques of bass guitar but also bass synthesizers. Artists include Vicky "D", Komiko, Peech Boys, Kashif, and later Evelyn King.
Electro funk
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Electro funk is a hybrid of electronic music and funk. It essentially follows the same form as funk, and retains funk's characteristics, but is made entirely (or partially) with a use of electronic instruments such as the TR-808. Vocoders or talkboxes were commonly implemented to transform the vocals. The pioneering Electro band Zapp commonly used such instruments in their music. Other artists include Herbie Hancock, Afrika Bambaataa, Egyptian Lover, Vaughan Mason & Crew, Midnight Star, and Cybotron.
Funk metal
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Funk metal (sometimes typeset differently such as funk-metal) is a fusion genre of music which emerged in the 1980s. It typically incorporates elements of funk and heavy metal. It features hard-driving heavy metal guitar riffs, the pounding bass rhythms characteristic of funk, and sometimes hip hop-style rhymes into an alternative rock approach to songwriting. A primary example is the all-African-American rock band Living Colour, who have been said to be "funk-metal pioneers" by Rolling Stone.[37]
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
G-funk is a fusion genre of music which combines gangsta rap and funk. It is generally considered to have been invented by west coast rappers, made famous by Dr. Dre. It incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-Funk tunes, and a high-pitched portamento saw wave synthesizer lead. Unlike other earlier rap acts that also utilized funk samples (such as EPMD and The Bomb Squad), G-funk often utilized fewer, unaltered samples per song.
Timba funk
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Timba is a form of funky Cuban popular dance music. By 1990, several Cuban bands had incorporated elements of funk and hip-hop into their arrangements, and expanded upon the instrumentation of the traditional conjunto with American drum set, saxophones and a two-keyboard format. Timba bands like La Charanga Habanera or Bamboleo often have horns or other instruments playing short parts of tunes by Earth, Wind and Fire, Kool and the Gang or other U.S. funk bands. While many funk motifs exhibit a clave-based structure, they are created intuitively, without a conscious intent of aligning the various parts to a guide-pattern. Timba incorporates funk motifs into an overt and intentional clave structure.
Along with the Cuban congas and timbales, the drum set provided powerful clave-based funk patterns that added more punch to the rhythm section. Funk is especially evident in timba's breakdown sections. The following example is Calixto Oviedo's funky drumset pattern for a type of high-energy breakdown known as presión.[38] Watch: Calixto Oviedo play funky timba drumset. on YouTube
Timba bass players incorporated techniques associated with funk, such as slapping, and pulling the strings in a percussive way. The following excerpt demonstrates several funk characteristics of timba bass. This is Alain Pérez's bass tumbao from a performance of Issac Delgado piece "La vida sin esperanza." Pérez's playful interpretation of the tumbao is what timba authority Kevin Moore refers to as "controlled improvisation;" the pattern continuously varies within a set framework.[39] Watch: Alain Pérez play funky timba bass. on YouTube Watch: Alaín Pérez - Bajista Cubano - Ejemplo Tumbao "No Me Mires" (Issac Delgado) on YouTube
Funk jam
Funk jam is a fusion genre of music which emerged in the 1990s. It typically incorporates elements of funk and often exploratory guitar, along with extended cross genre improvisations; often including elements of jazz, ambient, electronic, Americana, and hip hop including improvised lyrics. Phish, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Galactic, Soulive are all examples of funk bands that play funk jam.
See also
- ↑ Presence and pleasure: the funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament, p.3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Slutsky, Allan, Chuck Silverman (1997). The Funkmasters-the Great James Brown Rhythm Sections. ISBN 1-57623-443-6
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ [Online Etymology Dictionary: "funk" http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=funk]
- ↑ [Online Etymology Dictionary: "funk" http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=funky]
- ↑ [World Wide Words: Funk http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fun2.htm]
- ↑ Donald M. Marquis: In Search of Buddy Bolden, Louisiana State University Press, 2005, p. 108-111 ISBN 978-0-8071-3093-3
- ↑ Who Started Funk Music, Real Music Forum
- ↑ Obituary, The Guardian
- ↑ Merriam-Webster, Inc, The Merriam-Webster New Book of Word Histories (Merriam-Webster, 1991), ISBN 0-87779-603-3, p. 175.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Palmer, Robert (1979: 14). A Tale of Two Cities: Memphis Rock and New Orleans Roll. Brooklyn.
- ↑ Stewart, Alexander (2000: 293). "Funky Drummer: New Orleans, James Brown and the Rhythmic Transformation of American Popular Music." Popular Music, v. 19, n. 3. Oct., 2000), p. 293–318.
- ↑ Kubik (1999: 51). Africa and the Blues. Jackson, MI: University Press of Mississippi.
- ↑ "Rhythm and blues influenced by Afro-Cuban music first surfaced in New Orleans." Campbell, Michael, and James Brody (2007: 83). Rock and Roll: An Introduction. Schirmer. ISBN 0-534-64295-0
- ↑ Stewart, Alexander (2000: 298). "Funky Drummer: New Orleans, James Brown and the Rhythmic Transformation of American Popular Music." Popular Music, v. 19, n. 3. Oct., 2000), p. 293–318.
- ↑ Dr. John quoted by Stewart (2000: 297).
- ↑ Kevin Moore: "There are two common ways that the three-side [of clave] is expressed in Cuban popular music. The first to come into regular use, which David Peñalosa calls 'clave motif,' is based on the decorated version of the three-side of the clave rhythm. By the 1940s [there was] a trend toward the use of what Peñalosa calls the 'offbeat/onbeat motif.' Today, the offbeat/onbeat motif method is much more common." Moore (2011). Understanding Clave and Clave Changes p. 32. Santa Cruz, CA: Moore Music/Timba.com. ISBN‐10: 1466462302
- ↑ Stewart (2000: 302).
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Stewart (2000: 293).
- ↑ Little Richard
- ↑ Lessons in listening – Concepts section: Fantasy, Earth Wind & Fire, The Best of Earth Wind & Fire Volume I, Freddie White. (1998, January). Modern Drummer Magazine, pp. 146–152. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Collins, W. (2002, January 29). James Brown. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Retrieved January 12, 2007.
- ↑ Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis quoted by Stewart (2000: 303).
- ↑ Stewart (2000: 306).
- ↑ Pareles, J. (2006, December 26). James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul" dies at 73. The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
- ↑ Gross, T. (1989). Musician Maceo Parker (Fresh Air WHYY-FM audio interview). National Public Radio. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
- ↑ "Miles Davis first heard Stockhausen's music in 1972, and its impact can be felt in Davis's 1972 recording On the Corner, in which cross-cultural elements are mixed with found elements." Barry Bergstein "Miles Davis and Karlheinz Stockhausen: A Reciprocal Relationship." The Musical Quarterly 76, no. 4. (Winter): p. 503.
- ↑ In Davis' autobiography he states that "I had always written in a circular way and through Stockhausen I could see that I didn't want to ever play again from eight bars to eight bars, because I never end songs: they just keep going on. Through Stockhausen I understood music as a process of elimination and addition" (Miles, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989, p. 329)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Dr. Dre > Biography at MyStrands
- ↑ Cheryl Keyes, "She Was too Black for Rock and too hard for Soul: (Re)discovering the Musical Career of Betty Mabry Davis" 35.
- ↑ Presence and pleasure: the funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament, p.4
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Presión, like muela, is a "breakdown", but the two gears lie at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. Muela lowers the energy level, allowing everyone to take a breath and the singer to set up the next section. In contrast, presión begins suddenly and majestically, surging into new material, often the most memorable material of the arrangement, and creating an orgasmic moment of arrival that exhorts the dancers to throw their hands in the air with abandon ("manos p'arriba!"). Moore, Kevin (2011: 127). Beyond Salsa Percussion: v. 3 Calixto Oviedo. Drums and Timbales: Timba Gears. Moore Music/Timba.com. ISBN‐10: 145634398X
- ↑ Moore, Kevin (2012: 80). Beyond Salsa Bass; The Cuban Timba Revolution v. 6, Alain Pérez p. 1. Moore Music/Timba.com. ISBN‐10: 1470143909
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.


text:
Live Gateway Motorway, Rochedale Traffic Map
Related IncidentsView All »
28 Aug, 2016 - 5:45 PM
Stationary Vehicle Northbound
Left shoulder after Miles Platting Road.
No delays expected. Reduced speed limit (80km/h).
27 Aug, 2016 - 11:34 PM
Animal or wildlife Hazard Northbound
Adjacent to Mount Gravatt Road Off Ramp.
Lane or lanes reduced
No delays expected. Proceed with caution.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Rantoul Business Center
Welcome to the
Facility Rental Application See more photos of the RBC |
Office Space Available for Lease From
Current Tenants Include:
Atlas Energy Technologies (AET)
Atlas Energy Technologies (AET) is a start up company that designs and builds systems that convert organic waste to energy and also cleans up the waste stream so that the discharge does no ecological damage. The company technology generates useable energy from waste while providing an ecologically safe discharge.
BSN Sports
BSN Sports is a national sporting goods company, with headquarters in Dallas, TX. Although their focus is on school athletics, providing team uniforms, equipment, etc., they also serve parks and recreation departments, leagues and travel teams, as well as corporate apparel.
Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell
Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell provides residential and commercial real estate services in Rantoul, Paxton and throughout Central Illinois. Our focus is serving the ever changing real estate needs of our clients. Our agents are committed to providing a level of service and professionalism that will surpass expectations using a blend of technology, experience and a personal touch.
Conxxus Broadband
Our location comprises the "Head End" operation of Conxxus Broadband. The video operations of the Company is located in a secure area that controls an area of approximately 2300 square miles of television and internet services.
Diamond Rentals, Inc.
Diamond Rentals, Inc. is an industry leader in the rental and sales of industrial and commercial compactors and balers. Our uniquely designed compactors can help any property owner with reducing costs as well as increasing the aesthetic appeal of your property. Offers many options for commercial and industrial properties.
Harbor Light Hospice
Harbor Light Hospice provides patient care throughout all of East Central Illinois – which includes all of Paxton & Gibson City, Rantoul, Champaign, Danville and beyond. We are contracted with every area nursing home, and work closely with all of the area hospitals and their discharge planners. We also consult regularly with the Danville VA and area agencies to provide home hospice to veterans. We use a team approach (nurse, CNA, social worker, chaplain, support staff) to provide quality hospice services to patients and families throughout our service areas. Hospice services can be provided at home, a skilled nursing facility or an assisted living center and is paid for by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurances.
Transitions Hospice
Our philosophy is to empower our patients and families by providing the tools and support necessary to embrace life. We don't focus on the finality of death; we focus on the practical side of living. Our job is to assist our patients and families through the physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges of life's final transition.
Contact Us
Scott Eisenhauer
Contact Us
Office: (217) 892-6801
Fax: (217) 892-5501
Rantoul Business Center
601 S Century Blvd
Rantoul, IL 61866
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Monday - Friday


text:
School Vouchers: Recent Findings and Unanswered Questions
Many people would argue that U.S. elementary and secondary public schools need to improve, and they would like to see U.S. students perform better in international comparisons. In addition, many people would like to do more to close the achievement gaps within the U.S. between lower-income and minority students and their counterparts. These concerns are shared by parents, employers, policymakers and society more generally. There is less agreement on the root causes of the problems and how best to tackle them. For example, while some would argue that insufficient funding is the primary factor, others would say that this is not supported by the evidence, since per pupil spending has increased faster than achievement, as reflected in scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).


text:
UnPoetia:The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Poetry for people who hate poetry |
The Poem[edit]
Let us go then, you and me
Into the Cartesian air
The limited domains of history lie
like a black, caustic drain
like the black, caustic drain
in my shower; clean it!
Like I clean my soul.
With stuff under the sink.
Windex doesn't work,
on shower drains...
Or the drains of human souls
Whatever those are.
And so I ask
With due recourse
Are the Rich waves of Euclidean planes
are as Dixie Cups are to me
useless only in their capacity for witholding liquid
from the docile domains of the floor?
and I, with my Dixie Cup in hand
dearly wish for more tea
because these things
only hold like a few ounces
And so I wait
for another cup
Oh Cousteau!
Doth loves vassal
act not like hatreds vessel?
Or something.
Like the dreamiest of dreams
and the misteast of dreams
I do rhyme a word with itself
Probably ran out of ideas
Like I ran out of love
Yep, ran out of ideas
Check please.
And so, again, she passes by
Out the window I see her fall
fall through the cold, dark sky
She probably fell from the balcony up above
Drunk off her ass, like always
Drunk off her ass, on love
And still, I extricate
from Vesuvian remains
the druggiest of my million thoughts
My words are the words of a poet
because I am writing poetry
Doth! What does doth mean?
Perhaps we'll never know.
Perhaps we'll not know
just as we do not know
Achilles's shoe size
And so the lore of the ancient cartographers
And the oceans of water
are somewhat similar
I guess
And this...is clear
I don't even
know what the fuck I'm talking...about...anymore
Do I ask? Dare I ask?
Are you listening?
A bear attacked me once
Only that bear was 'Love'
And I was a bear.
And me and that bear
were like Romeo
with a time machine
going back in time with Juliet
to have a threesome with Cleopatra
on the banks of the river Styx
"Come Sail Away With Me" indeed
But still, the people around me are
like Romans, asking questions
like "Isn't that illegal?"
and "Have you seen a doctor about that?"
But I never go to meet him
Because perhaps we'll meet,
in the Hallowed Halls of Valhalla
or the rich domains of Elysium
And when I tell the inquiring Latinians this
they look at me,
like I'm strange
Doth! As my friend
my dearest and only friend
wander out of the drudgery of another daily
day, we try to foresee things
but we're really not good at foreseeing things
We're so much better at playing pool
I talk to this Maiden--
the fairest Maiden I've talked to today
and she reciprocates, interlocation! Locution!
And yet
even I don't know what those words mean...
Maybe some day...
I'll punctuate properly--
Not yet--
And then, when in the darkness of the night
under Luna's piquant lights
Epsilium and I
meet the Spirits of Netherworld
And the spirits of the world take me
and drown me
Not really, I just made that last part up.
The spirits and we,
Epsilium and me,
Told the Spirits of our Terran declarations
and exculpations
and venerations
and adulations
and trepidations
And the Spirits, thoughtfully,
always thoughtfully,
Said, with a Martian indefatigability,
"Are you on crack?"
Am I on crack, indeed.
I walk down past the Denny's near the exit ramp
and camp
Near the box that dispenses USA Today
Waiting for breakfast.
Nearby, the overpass
I hear the homeless people yelling "fuck"
And the honking of the trucks.
I do not think they honk for me.
Out past the broken ages gone
I see the people in the check-in line
["Why's that guy looking at us, Mommy?"]
I see them checking luggage, time and time
["That's just a drunk poet, dear"]
I see the waves crash against the filing cabinets
I've had a lot of work to do of late
Until the to-do's drown me, and I wake.


text:
There is no evidence that, so far, any mathematician has read [de Branges' proof ]: de Branges and his proof appear to have been ostracised by the profession. I have talked to a number of mathematicians about him and his work over the last few years and it seems that the profession has come to the view that nothing he does in this area will ever bear fruit and therefore his work can be safely ignored. It may be that a possible solution of one of the most important problems in mathematics is never investigated because no one likes the solution's author.
My post has nothing to say about the proof itself; I would not dare to presume even a passing familiarity with it. What caught my attention was the sense of surprise in Sabbagh's article; the unstated 'what on earth does a man's reputation have to do with his proof' ?
What indeed ?
Mathematics (and by extension theoretical CS) inhabits a Platonic world of truths and false statements (with a dark brooding Gödel lurking in the background, but that's a different story). As such, either statements are true, and become theorems/lemma/what-have-you, or they are not and fall by the wayside. The pursuit of (mathematical) truth is thus the search for these true statements. The identity (or very existence) of the searcher has no effect on the truth of the statements; there is no observational uncertainty principle.
However, mathematicians live in the real world. In this world, true and false gets a bit murkier. A theorem is no longer true or false, but almost certainly true, or definitely false. They are far closer to the falsifiable theories of natural science, although there is at least a "there" there; a scientific theory can only have overwhelming evidence in support of it, but a mathematical statement (if not too complex) can be categorically true.
The natural sciences have reproducible experiments; if I cannot reproduce the results you claim, all else being equal, the burden of proof is on you to demonstrate that your results are indeed correct. Similarly in mathematics, if a claimed theorem has a complex proof, the burden of proof does reside on the author to demonstrate that it is indeed correct. They can do this by simplifying steps, supplementing with more intuition, or whatever...
In this respect, theorem proving in the real world has a somewhat social flavor to it. And thus, there is also (it seems to me) a social compact: You demonstrate competence and capability above a certain basic threshold, and I deem your proofs worthy of study. The threshold has to be low, to prevent arbitrary exclusion of reasonable provers, but it cannot be
This is why the many proofs that P=NP (or P != NP) that float on comp.theory don't get a fair shake: it is not because the "experts" are "elitists" who don't appreciate "intruders" poaching their beloved problems; it is because the social compact has not been met; the writers don't cross the threshold for basic reasonableness, either by choosing to disregard the many approaches to P vs NP that have been ruled out, or by refusing to accept comments from peer review as plausible criticism, and demanding that the burden of proof be shifted from them to the critical reviewer.
Such a compact could be abused mightily to create a clique; this is why the threshold must be set low and is low in mathematics. The notorious cliche that a mathematician's best work is done when young at least reinforces the idea that this club can be entered by anyone. More mundanely, there are awards for best student papers at STOC/FOCS that often go to first-year grad students (like this year's award).
Going back to de Branges' proof, I have no idea what the technical issues are with his proof, and if there are known reasons why they don't work, but going solely on the basis of Karl Sabbagh's article (and I acknowledge that he could be biased) it seems wrong to ignore his manuscripts. He for one has clearly crossed the threshold of the social compact. Reminds me of an attempt I made to read a popular exposition of Mulmuley and Sohoni's recent work on P vs NP; if this work does lead to a claimed proof, I imagine that there would be few people who could comprehend the proof, but it would deserve to be read.


text:
NPD: The customer is always right – and first – says Danish dairy giant
This content item was originally published on www.nutraingredients.com, a William Reed online publication.
Paul Cornillon, senior vice president in the firm's Strategic Innovation Centre told us what it means that the company has about-faced to be completely "consumer focused", especially in the newer markets it is targeting.
"Arla has been really good at making high quality products in an efficient manner and more and more with the growth ambitions we need to put more efforts into innovation and the starting point is the consumer," Cornillon said.
Cornillon will join a host of 'out-of-the-nutrition/food-box' speakers to share his ideas at the exclusive NutraIngredients and FoodNavigator-organised Food Vision, in Cannes, France, between March 20-22, 2013. More on that here.


text:
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Jam (Raspberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Grape, Peach, Plum, Fig, etc.)
Egg + 1 teaspoon water (optional)
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
To toast the flour, place in a large pot over medium heat; cook 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly, until flour is light golden brown and fragrant. Sift flour into a large bowl. Return pot back to heat, add oats, and toast for 3 minutes, stirring almost constantly, until light golden and fragrant. Place oats in a food processor and process until coarsely ground.
Into large bowl with flour, sift in baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk in ground oats until combined.
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
When flour-oat mixture has cooled down, knead butter in, using fingertips, until well incorporated and mixture is clumpy.
In an additional large mixing bowl, whisk together egg and buttermilk until combined. Whisk in sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until combined. Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
Take half of the dough, form a ball, and flatten into a disk (about a 1/4-inch in thickness) on a lightly floured surface. (If dough is hard to handle, place in freezer for about 10 minutes.) Spread a couple of tablespoons of jam on to the dough. Take remaining dough, form a ball, and flatten on top of the jam. Slice disc into 8 equal triangles and place on a greased baking sheet.
Whisk together egg + water until well combined; evenly brush on top of scones. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake 20 minutes or until golden in color and crisp. Transfer scones to wire racks to cool.
Makes 8 scones


text:
In all of France, there are few private libraries more impressive than the one in St. Brice château in Cognac, the seat of the Hennessy clan. The walls are hung with ancient Flemish tapestry and the shelves hold rare treasures such as a complete edition of Diderot's L'Encyclopédie, dating back to 1772. Fragrance maker Kilian Hennessy, 35, spent his first five years on the estate and still spends hours in the library during his frequent visits. "It's fantastic," says Hennessy, who was named after his grandfather and LVMH cofounder, Kilian Hennessy. "It's my favorite place there."
It was in the library, early on, where Hennessy developed his "addiction" to books. And it is his love for books—18th- and 19th-century French literature, in particular—that informs the first collection of his fragrance company, By Kilian. "One of the greatest French poets, who is a poet of smells—of perfumes—is Baudelaire, with his Les Fleurs du Mal," says Hennessy, who makes frequent references to Rimbaud, Verlaine, Balzac and Baudelaire when discussing his creations. His darkly romantic collection of six scents, L'Oeuvre Noire (the Black Masterpiece), is like a love letter to those authors.
Hennessy is sitting in his lavender-walled office on Paris's Avenue Matignon. Dressed in an oxford shirt opened wide at the neck and well-worn jeans, he is boyishly handsome. His take on fragrance, however, is distinctly old-school. "I want to put perfume back on a pedestal," he says, citing Chanel No. 5 and No. 19, Cristalle, Eau Sauvage, Fahrenheit, Diorissimo, Femme by Rochas and "all of the Guerlain perfumes up to maybe 20 years ago" as among the classics. Those scents, he says, were made with "the highest standard, with a vision." But the craft of fragrance making, he believes, has been in decline, due to lack of training and the get-rich-quick nature of the business. "Now all big brands launch three perfumes a year," he scoffs.
Hennessy became interested in fragrance while studying at the Sorbonne. He had originally planned to do a thesis on luxury but became so interested in scents that he decided to make his topic the semantics of smells. He took classes at Cinquième Sens, a fragrance school in Paris, and met some of the fragrance greats, including Maurice Roger, then president of Parfums Christian Dior. "Roger told me, 'If you want to do the business, you have to learn perfume like an artisan,'" Hennessy recalls.
He interned at the fragrance house Firmenich and, after graduation, started training with veteran noses. Hennessy went on to develop and market scents for the majors, including Dior, Paco Rabanne, Alexander McQueen and Giorgio Armani. But by working for the large companies, he explains, "there was always the problem of someone's taste against your own." Furthermore, he disagreed with the very philosophy behind big fragrance launches: "All of the fashion designers believe that because they have an aesthetic sense, they have an aesthetic for everything." So last year, craving the freedom to make a scent that was his alone, he started By Kilian.
"It was courageous for him to have created his own company," says Victoire de Castellane, creative director of fine jewelry at Dior and one of Hennessy's cousins. "He's always had a certain strength. And I would say he's the most artistic in the family."
Many of the L'Oeuvre Noire scents have what Hennessy calls "a very classic touch." For instance, his A Taste of Heaven, Absinthe Verte, a blend of orange blossom, Turkish rose and lavender, "smells like it could have been done a long time ago." And he has no interest in the current trend of bizarre fragrance combinations. "I like perfumes to smell good," he says emphatically. The collection includes two women's, two men's and two unisex scents. The women's fragrances are called the Ingenues (a reference to Verlaine) and the men's scents are grouped under the name the Artificial Paradises (harking back to Baudelaire). Starting in October the line will be sold at a handful of stores, including Bergdorf Goodman and the perfumery Aedes de Venustas, both in New York.
"Perfume should either be a shield, to create an environment of ease, or else a weapon of seduction," says Hennessy, who wooed his wife, Melonie, with a scent he created for her. "Every new creation should open a new olfactory route—and not be a simple copy."


text:
Date farm thrives in secluded oasis
February 28, 2016 - 11:43 am
China Ranch Date Farm near Death Valley is a popular cool-season destination with wide-ranging appeal. Located in a secluded California desert canyon, this hidden oasis is lush with groves of various date palms, stands of cottonwoods and thickets of vegetation. Visitors follow a twisting road between high, chalky cliffs to park near a gift shop, snack bar, landscaping nursery, date processing sheds, a one-room museum and miles of hiking trails.
China Ranch lies about 90 miles from Las Vegas near the California communities of Tecopa and Shoshone just off a major route to Death Valley. To reach it, drive west on state Route 160, the road to Pahrump over Mountain Springs Pass. When it nears the mountains, the highway parallels part of the historic Old Spanish Trail, a rugged overland route from New Mexico to California established in 1830 by trader Antonio Armijo. Once over the mountains and down in Pahrump Valley, watch for the turnoff onto Tecopa Highway, which becomes the Old Spanish Trail Highway at the California border.
The road twists over rugged foothills on its approach to Tecopa, a resort area developed around natural hot springs, a lake and marshy wetlands. Look for Furnace Creek Road and turn left for a short paved route to the junction with unpaved China Ranch Road. The ranch road soon drops into a steep-walled canyon winding past several old mining ventures to the oasis.
The well-watered canyon has been cultivated since the late 1800s, when an enterprising Chinese man left behind his labors in the Death Valley borax mines to start a truck garden in the canyon. For several years he provided fresh vegetables, fruit, poultry and eggs to various mining camps in the area. His success drew the attention of a man named Morrison, who took over the farm in 1900, probably at gunpoint. The Chinese entrepreneur disappeared, his name lost to history, but the property has been known as China Ranch through several subsequent owners.
The first date palms were planted in the 1920s by a daughter of the pioneering Fairbanks family. In 1970, members of another regional pioneer family, the Browns, acquired the ranch and Brian and Bonnie Brown began expanding the date groves and improving facilities. Since it takes the palms many years to mature enough to produce dates, such expansion means a long-term investment of labor and planning. The date groves now include several varieties of palms, including a hybrid unique to China Ranch.
The hardworking couple have tackled many tasks, including construction of a four-bedroom family ranch house built of adobe bricks produced on-site, a five-year project that was completed in 1991. Brian Brown acquired the expertise needed for growing the palms, which yield hundreds of pounds of dates when mature. His wife, Bonnie, developed and tested ways to use the nutritious dates in various recipes, which she included in a date cookbook that can be purchased at the ranch. The couple remain involved in local efforts to promote tourism in this region where mining was once king.
China Ranch visitors get free samples of dates grown on the farm during a stop at the gift shop, which features baked goods made with dates and a snack bar with many choices, including delectable date shakes. The shop stocks a wide array of food items, books, souvenirs, toys, hand-crafted items and well-chosen collectibles. The nearby nursery offers palms, cactuses and native plants. A one-room museum provides glimpses of the past at China Ranch.
The ranch owners promote exploration of the area on foot and horseback. They have developed six hiking routes radiating from the ranch grounds into nearby canyons, along the Amargosa River and following the route of the historic Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. China Ranch has become a hotspot for birders since the oasis draws at least 225 species of birds, as well as varied desert wildlife. It is a fascinating site that draws repeat visitors.
— Margo Bartlett Pesek's Trip of the Week column appears on Sundays.


text:
NOVOLAY® secure and PYRANOVA® secure
Excellent technical properties
SCHOTT PYRANOVA® secure is a glass laminate that meets the requirements of fire resistance class EI, as well as being impact resistant to DIN EN 365 standard and bullet resistant in accordance with DIN EN 1063. NOVOLAY® secure offers the same level of impact and bullet resistance, while also providing excellent levels of light transmission. SCHOTT safety glass for protecting people and properties can offer less than half the weight and thickness of comparable glass composites.
Discover how PYRANOVA® secure provides exceptional fire, impact and bullet resistance.
Find out what happens when PYRANOVA® secure in a metal frame comes under attack from heat, fire and bullets.
Discover how a sample of PYRANOVA® secure in a wooden frame handles heat, fire and bullets.
Manish Karkera
Sales Manager – Middle East


text:
Previous Lesson
Complete and Continue
Course 1: Foundations of Life Coaching
Section One - Foundations to Transformational Life Coaching
Welcome to SLCT Life Coach Training
Narrated Introduction to SLCT Life Coaching! (58:06)
Commitments of a Transformational Life Coach
12 Guiding Principles of Transformational Life Coaching
SLCT's 11-Step Protocol to Every Coaching Session
Creating Sacred Space for You and Your Clients
11 Guidelines for Creating Sacred Space
Positive Focus & Transformational Listening
Focusing the Client & Bringing the Client into the Now
Recommended Book List
Section Two - Foundations to Transformational Life Coaching
What is the Wheel of Balance?
Wheel of Balance — Video Coaching Exercise (33:48)
Section Three - Foundations to Transformational Life Coaching
How Did You Do? Self Reflection
SLCT's Detailed 11-Step Protocol
Forwarding the Action and Making Powerful Requests
Personal or Professional Focus
Section Four - Foundations to Transformational Life Coaching
I am an Amazing Coach
Determining Life Values
Values Survey
Values — Video Coaching Exercise (29:33)
Section Five - Foundations to Transformational Life Coaching
Differences Between Coaching, Consulting & Therapy
Imagery Guidelines for Life Coaches
Facilitating Your Client's Celebration of Accomplishments using Guided Imagery
Imagery Script for Coaching Clients - Celebration
SLCT's Detailed 11-Step Protocol
Lesson content locked
If you're already enrolled,
you'll need to login
Enroll in Course to Unlock


text:
There's concern the sport of swimming still may be dealing with a sexual abuse problem in the United States.
It's been three years since revelations emerged in the media. A number of in-depth reports in 2010 likened the situation in swimming to the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal: Coaches molesting under-age female swimmers; some of the abuse continuing for years without punishment.
The sport's governing body in this country, USA Swimming, responded by creating Safe Sport. The enhanced sex abuse prevention program featured new rules and regulations, as well as training and education and an emphasis on reporting behavior from harassment to criminal misconduct.
But three years in, some say Safe Sport isn't doing the job. California lawyer Bob Allard has been one of the harshest critics. He calls Safe Sport a "media ploy." Allard says that since 2010, various stories have trickled in from Colorado to Idaho to other parts of the country, "where USA Swimming members set forth to USA Swimming clear violations to the new rules, and USA Swimming manifested a complete disinterest in helping those people."
Last week, USA Swimming announced a prominent expert on the prevention of child abuse, Victor Vieth of the Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center, will conduct an independent examination of Safe Sport. USA Swimming says Vieth will begin his review on Sept. 10. The results will be made public, most likely in January of next year.
Chuck Wielgus, who's now in his 17th year as USA Swimming's executive director, says the review is not a concession that there are major problems with Safe Sport. He says it's just an effort by the governing body to improve the program, at a time between Summer Olympics.
"We have a little bit more time on our hands," says Wielgus, "and it just seemed like a good point to pause and take a hard look."
But it also coincides with increased scrutiny by Congress. Two months ago, Rep. George Miller of California, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, asked the General Accountability Office to investigate how USA Swimming and other youth sports organizations handle child abuse allegations.
And Wednesday morning, members of Miller's staff are slated to meet with Safe Sport's director and U.S. Olympic Committee officials.
Chuck Wielgus insists the Safe Sport review is not a reaction to congressional interest in the subject.
"We're not doing this in response to that, " he says.
But attorney Bob Allard, whose client list includes a number of swimmers who say they've been sexually abused by coaches, is skeptical.
"USA Swimming is about to meet with Congress," Allard says, "and it's desperately trying to portray itself as an organization that cares."
Since 2010, it's been Allard's contention that USA Swimming doesn't care. And he says there are plenty of former and current cases of unpunished sexual misconduct by coaches to prove it. He also says there are also less dramatic, albeit significant, cases of USA Swimming turning away valid complaints and reports of rules violations.
USA Swimming denies accusations of covering up cases of misconduct and not taking the issue of sexual abuse seriously.
"This is something we've worked very, very hard at," says Wielgus, adding, "I'm very proud of where USA Swimming is today in its efforts. We've made enormous progress and the program will continue to get better as we go."
A USA Swimming spokesperson says that since Safe Sport's inception, there's been a dramatic increase in communication with USA Swimming members — an estimated 400,000 athletes, officials, volunteers and coaches — and an increase in reporting bad behavior.
The spokesperson says that in the past three years alone, 34 individuals have been banned by USA Swimming for sexual misconduct; 45 were banned in the prior 19 years.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Export 4 results:
Filters: Author is Villarrubia, Charles Rene [Clear All Filters]
Use of activity monitors in telemetry studies In International Conference on Wildlife Biotelemetry. Vol. 2., 1979.
Asessment of telemetric motion sensors for studies of activity." Canadian Journal of Zoology 60, no. 8 (1982): 1800-1805.
"Movement Ecology and Habitat Utilization of Black Bears in Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee In Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Knoxville, Tennessee: The University of Tennessee, 1982.
Diel Movements of Black Bears in the Southern Appalachians." Bears-Their Biology and Movement 5 (1983): 11-19.


text:
Recipes for Making and Cooking With Fermented Foods
Welcome to the companion website to my most recent book, Mastering Fermentation, published by Ten Speed Press. I invite you to delve into these pages to get a taste of the breadth of fermented foods and beverages, along with helpful guidelines and delicious, doable recipes. Join me as I explore this intriguing world of fermentation. As a food enthusiast, and probably a DIYer, your interests include knowing more about where your food comes from, including the quality of that food. Moreover, you want a hand in making that food; whether cheese, kombucha, sausage, or beer.
Why Make Fermented Foods?
Fermentation is one of the oldest forms of food preservation, dating back to prehistoric times. The current interest in making fermented foods at home is a growing trend, not a fad. It is a return to real food; food with substantive flavor and nutritional value. As with other forms of preservation, fermentation allows for extended periods of storage before the food needs to be consumed. The usability of the food is extended beyond its natural season in a raw state. As a bonus, fermented foods taste better and are better for us than processed or even pasteurized foods. Many ready-made foods have been robbed of their naturally-occurring beneficial microorganisms by pasteurization and some high-temperature processes such as ultra-pasteurization. It is important to know that not all bacteria are bad for us. Fermented foods are probiotic; alive with beneficial organisms that contribute to our digestive and therefore overall health.In the United States, we love a wide variety of savory and sweet ferments that many of us probably don't even realize are fermented. Fermented fruits (wine, vinegar, cider, salt-brined olives), fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles), fermented grains (beer, sourdough bread), fermented tea (kombucha), fermented honey (mead), fermented legumes and nuts (soy sauce, tofu, miso, nut butters), fermented meats (salami, cured sausage, pastrami), and fermented dairy (yogurt, kefir, cheese) are some of the most recognizable categories of popular fermented foods. You can successfully make all of these products at home.
My advice to you:
Make as many fermented foods as you can and you will feel enriched not only by the food itself but
by the process. It's always rewarding to share and enjoy the fruits of your labor. There are many foods you can ferment
at home with little time and effort on your part. Others you may choose, such as making aged cheese or curing meats,
will take more attention. With proper planning, all are doable as part of one's daily life.
Now let's get fermenting!
Mary's featured in Sunset Magazine!DIY Shrubs: Mary was featured in Sunset Magazine (Feb 2014). Read her article on flavorful drinking vinegars. Click here for PDFMastering Fermentation RecommendationsSerious Eats has selected their 10 favorite cookbooks of 2013!Serious Eats website2013's best cookbooks according to the OregonianOregonian article |


text:
Elijah is best known as a man of prayer. James, whom tradition tells us was known as "camel knees" because of his own prayer life, uses Elijah as an example of the power of the prayer of a righteous man. James tells us: "The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months" (James 5:16b-17).
In 1 Kings 17:1b, Elijah boldly declares to King Ahab, "Surely, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." Putting these two passages together we know this was the result of Elijah's prayers. Elijah forms a fitting example of the power of prayer, but effective and meaningful prayer is never an isolated religious exercise, something unrelated to the rest of a person's spiritual life and walk with God. The prayer that accomplishes things and gets God's ear, is the outflow of a vital relationship with God. It is born of one's burden, concern, and the reality of God in one's life. It flows from a sense of need, a heart full of faith, and from the desire to see God's purposes accomplished and His glory manifested.
As we have seen, Elijah lived in a time when the foundations were being destroyed. It was a time of spiritual apostasy and moral decay. The nation had abandoned God's law and turned to the worship of Baal-Melqart. We saw that Elijah was a common man--a man of like passions as you and me. He was also a man of uncommon courage--a man willing to risk his life for the glory and cause of God. We saw that out of the blue, Ahab was confronted by this rugged prophet dressed in his camel's hair coat, who stood in striking contrast to the effeminate, perverted Baal priests. I imagine him looking like an Abe Lincoln in contrast to a Tiny Tim tiptoeing through the tulips.
What gave Elijah this uncommon courage? Did the Lord appear to him in a dream, or speak to him from a bush as with Moses? Possibly, but the text doesn't say that. Rather, I believe his courage came about in a less sensational but even more miraculous way. I believe it came about as the result of a common man being absorbed with the reality of his God. His courage was the product of intimately knowing God and living in close fellowship with the Lord through the Word and prayer. In the process, God's purposes, burdens, values, and desires became engraved on his heart. Being moved by faith, he prayed for the cessation of rain in accord with the warnings and principles of Deuteronomy (Deut. 11:16-17; 28:23-24). Then, convinced of God's answer, the prophet went forth to declare his message to King Ahab.
In lesson two we looked at the man Elijah. Now we turn to his short, but powerful message. Elijah's message also sheds light on his theology and his faith that became the root of his courage and actions. Elijah's message to Ahab in 1 Kings 17:1b divides into three sections, each of which forms a key that gives us insights into this man's courage and faith. These words reveal the prophet's heart. The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. So, if we want to understand this man and learn from his example, we need to examine these powerful, revealing words.
(1) The words, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives," teach us he was convinced and confident in God's person.
(2) The words, "Before whom I stand," teach us he was cognizant of God's presence and committed as God's representative.
(3) The words, "Surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word," reveal the fact he was confident in God's promises.
"As the Lord, the God of Israel lives," show us Elijah was convinced and confident in God's person. "Living" is the first word in the statement of Elijah in the Hebrew text. It is emphatic by its position and stresses his faith in the fact of the reality of God. God was not just a theological idea to him, but a living, and personal God. He did not just know about God, but he knew God in such a personal way that it transformed his life. As Daniel said, "but the people who know God will display strength and take action" (Dan. 11:32).
Actually, in the Hebrew text, the words "living" and "LORD" (Yahweh) are bound together rather than separated as in the English Bible. They are joined by what grammarians call the binding maqqeph and means they are to be pronounced together as one. This combination was a technical device for introducing an oath or a solemn statement of fact. We are to translate it like the NASB with the word "as." Literally, it is "As living is Yahweh . . . so surely there shall be neither be dew nor rain . . ." The idea is: "Just as sure as Yahweh, the God of Israel is alive and well, so surely there shall be neither dew nor rain . . ."
To grasp the significance of this, let's focus in on the name, Yahweh. Yahweh means "I Am that I Am." It is derived from the Hebrew verb hayah, meaning "to be, exist." This name itself stresses God's aliveness, His dynamic and active self-existence, but it also brings into view His eternal existence, sovereignty, and independence. Further, it is the name by which God revealed Himself to Israel as their redeemer as seen in Exodus 3. It strongly reminds us that He is the God of special revelation and redemptive love. In summary, this name stands for God's being, His revelation to Israel, and His redemption of the nation.
Elijah's appearance, his message, and this oath were all based on the vivid reality of all that God was to him. It was based on the fact that the God who had revealed Himself to the nation, was alive and actively involved in the affairs of the nation and His people. As Psalm 33 reminds us:
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. 13 The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; . . . 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, . . .
Ahab, Jezebel, and the Baal prophets thought they had successfully killed, embalmed, and buried the God of Israel along with His worship, His Word, and His representatives. I am reminded of Psalm 50:21, "These things you have done, and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you, I will reprove you, and state (the case) in order before your eyes."
Likewise today, the modern world, the humanists, evolutionists, liberal theologians, cults, and New Agers as a whole, think Christianity, the Bible, marriage, and a morality with absolutes are all but dead. Certainly they think moral absolutes have no place having any impact on the political and moral decisions of our society. They say it's old fashioned, out-dated, obsolete. People living in immorality are often heard saying, "we're living in the '90s," as though society has outgrown such foolish ideas. It is as though God has been proven to no longer be an issue in life and people can ignore God without serious ramifications to themselves and society. But individuals, as well as nations, cannot ignore God's Holy Word without serious consequences, which, like water breaking through a dam, spill over into every aspect of society. Knowing and believing this was the secret of Elijah's boldness, his presence before King, Ahab, and the reason for the drought that was to follow. It was a judgment from the living God.
Elijah had not been infected by the mood of his day nor by God's silence--what people so often mistake as His indifference or unreality. Rather, Elijah was convinced God was not only alive, but immanent--personally and actively involved in the affairs of both Israel and the nations. Being infused with this reality of God and His person, Elijah acted on God's promises. He prayed and proclaimed his message to King Ahab. God was not only alive and well, but very much operative in human history. This fact transformed Elijah's life. By the words, "as living is Yahweh, . . ." Elijah was not only declaring the reality of Israel's God as the only true God, but declaring the fact God was superior over the false ideas of mankind and the pagan idols of the nations. Elijah was declaring it was not just any man's ideas about God that counted, but the revelation of the God of the Bible--he alone is the true God. Likewise, our responsibility is to know God intimately, and then to proclaim the Christ of the Bible as the true Savior and God.
King after king in the northern kingdom of Israel had openly defied Yahweh and ignored Him with no apparent consequences. The idea so prevalent in the thinking of the people (just as it is today) was either Yahweh God had no real existence, or He was not concerned or involved with Israel. This was a subtle form of deism that had crept in since the people had been infiltrated by the idolatrous thinking of the nations. This is evident in a number of passages like Zephaniah 1:12; Ezekiel 8:12; 9:9; Malachi 3:14. Through Elijah's life and message, the idea of deism was being challenged and judgment declared and experienced. Ecclesiastes 8:11-12 brings home an important lesson for us:
Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. Although a sinner does evil a hundred [times] and may lengthen his [life] still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.
Likewise, we need to be able to openly demonstrate from the facts how this nation is experiencing the futility of its beliefs. We are experiencing a moral and spiritual drought as a judgment from God because this nation has puts its trust in almost anything but the Lord of the Bible. By the facts I am talking about our past history and heritage as a Christian nation. These are not the figments of someone's imagination, these are facts of history. But we have jettisoned that foundation and with that change has come the present moral decline and the failure of our society to deal with its problems. Programs developed by secular humanists and big government to improve society simply have not worked and can't work apart from faith in the living God. The founding fathers of our Constitution knew this and spoke accordingly. On October 11, 1798, President John Adams stated in his address to the military:
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.7
God's Word reminds us of this in Psalm 127. "Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain" (Ps. 127:1b). Societies need what is equivalent to a watchman--the police and the military. However, when that is not first founded on a deep faith in the Lord, as it was when our country began, then, its confidence will be in vain. The first words of Psalm 127, "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it," remind us the same principle applies to the home. By mentioning the home first, we are shown its priority. The character of a nation's leaders is formed in the home. As goes the home, so goes the society. This means, we need to be living the kind of Christian lives that clearly declare the reality of God, lives that demonstrate the impotence and futility of the false belief systems of the World. Elijah was declaring that their objects of worship were lifeless and had no capacity to save or to meet their needs (provide for rain and good crops, etc.).
The words, "Before whom I stand," reveal two things about Elijah: He was cognizant of God's presence and committed as God's representative. Elijah was not only convinced of the aliveness of his God, but he was aware of God's personal presence. He knew God was with him and that he was a personal representative of the Lord--one sent by the living and sovereign God of the universe. "Before whom I stand" showed Elijah's awareness that God was with him, God had sent him. He was under God's watchful eye, protection, supply, enablement, and orders. This statement also highlights Elijah's loyalty to the God of Israel in contrast with the disloyalty of the majority in Israel under the false and idolatrous system of Baal. Can people tell we are different because of our relationship with the Lord? Finally, this statement showed that Elijah's faith was anchored in at least three biblical concepts that were on his mind and in his consciousness, and that motivated and controlled his life. They gave him the courage and motivation to stand before King Ahab. These were:
(1) God's Person: Elijah had God's omniscience and omnipresence in mind as he spoke these words. He knew that there was no place where he would be absent from the caring and watchful eye of God (Ps. 139; Josh. 1:8).
(2) God's Plan: As a believing Israelite under God's covenant and as a man with the gift of a prophet, Elijah knew he was a personal representative of the living God who had the responsibility to "proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into God's marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9).
(3) God's Power and Provision: With God's presence and orders, also came God's power, protection and provision to do what he was called to do. I am reminded of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 who will go forth in the spirit and power of Moses and Elijah, and who will be protected until their ministry is over (cf. Matt. 28:18-19).
Let's focus on Elijah's statement as it pertains to God's omnipresence. As the transcendent God, He transcends all. He is far above and outside of the universe, totally independent of it. He is totally separate from and outside of time and creation, enthroned on high, and exalted above the heavens. He is the sovereign King, the independent and all powerful God of the universe (Ps. 103:19; 113:4-5; 115:3; 123:1). As such, He is the source of all authority, power, and deliverance. While God is that, He is also the immanent God who operated in time and creation. He created it and He sustains it--every atom and molecule is held together by Him (Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:3). God is also intimately concerned with His creatures--particularly with mankind. Though distinct from His creation, God is immanently present everywhere in creation and in our lives. Proverbs 5:21 says, "For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths." And Psalm 33:13-14 teaches us, "The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; from His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth."
There is nothing we can do, no thought we can think, no place we can go without God being there and knowing it completely. This means four things: (a) The whole of God is wholly present everywhere at all times, yet, He is separate and independent from the world and the things and creatures in the world. (b) There is no limit to God's presence and no place is closer to God than another. (c) He does not need to travel and He can act in all parts of the universe at once with all His authority and power. (d) God is above us, below us, at both sides of everything and within all at the same time in some inexplicable way. Elijah was consciously fortified by this truth as he stood before Ahab. He knew he was not alone. He knew it was Ahab, Jezebel, and over 400 Baal prophets against him--plus one. This meant Elijah was in the majority with God who was above, below and everywhere with him.
Elijah was living in the light of God's omnipresence and was practicing the presence of God. He was counting on God's person and promises according to God's Word. The person who knows the Lord can never be alone. We often may feel like Elijah's servant, utterly alone, but we are never alone. Our need is to flee to the Lord, to draw near to Him and know His presence, rather than to flee to our strategies for handling life. But God is not only present as the omniscient one, He is present to manifest Himself on our behalf because He loves us, has done the most for us in Christ, and has chosen to use us as his vessels to manifest His love (Josh. 1:9; Deut. 31:6-8; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5-6).
Consider Elijah's statement as it pertains to his ministry as a personal representative of the Lord. Here is one of the miracles of the universe, that the infinite, almighty God who is transcendent and completely independent and who can use any means He desires, has nevertheless, created us in His own image that we might be a visible representative of the invisible God. Even after the Fall, He has still chosen to use believers to represent Him to a world fallen in sin (Psalm 8).
Elijah understood as a believer and a prophet, he was not on earth merely to have a good time or seek his own satisfaction and comfort. He knew he was there to represent the Lord boldly and courageously in the battle with Satanic forces for the souls of men and for the glory of God. Further, Elijah lived in a time when many believers were hiding in caves, afraid to speak. They were acting as though God was either dead or had taken a vacation. He could have said, "Well, no one else is taking a stand, so I guess I won't either."
Today, we live in a time when the world is challenging Christian beliefs and people are crying for answers. It is a time when the fields are white unto harvest. Many Christians, however, are hiding in their caves of materialism and comfort, afraid to risk their lives or reputations for the Lord. Or, rather than representing the Lord, we are representing ourselves in games of spiritual king of the mountain, defending our own turf, or simply carrying on business as usual without a sense of God's mission for us in this world. We stutter in fright when confronted with a cultist because we haven't learned our Bible well enough and aren't secure enough in our faith. Or, perhaps we are being choked and bound from growth and service by the thorns, thistles, and vines of the details of life--what the Lord called "the deceitfulness of riches." But God is still looking for men and women who will count on His presence by faith, represent Him and face the challenges and risks of our day with all its various "isms" (cf. Ezek. 22:29-31).
The words, "Surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word," show he was confident in God's promises. Elijah stood before King Ahab and made this statement because he was confident in the principles, promises and warnings of God's Word, and confident of answered prayer when it is based on God's Word and concerned for God's glory.
Elijah's prayer for no rain was not just something he cooked up out of his own imagination or because he was angry at Jezebel. Rather, he was acting on the truth of the Word. He was standing firmly on the promises. His prayer and statement to King Ahab were the result of knowing and believing the promises of Scripture (cf. Deut. 11:8-32; 28:23-24 with 1 Kgs. 18:18. This shows that Elijah was relying on the principles of Deut. 11). Remember, the prophets of Baal claimed Baal-Melqart was the god of thunder, rain, and good crops. Elijah's declaration in 1 Kings 17:1 strongly challenged the reality of their god and their faith. It showed Baal was false and impotent and that the prophets of Baal were liars. It also showed truth and salvation could only be found in the prophets of Yahweh who alone spoke for God.
Likewise today, we have the responsibility to demonstrate by the way we live (our priorities and values), and by our personal testimony, the truth of John 14:6 and Acts 4:12. "If you know these things you are blessed if you do them" (John 13:17), and "blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it" (Luke 11:28). It is equivalent to telling people that true happiness and meaning in life come only from the Lord and then demonstrating it by our priorities, faithfulness, integrity, and by biblical pursuits that control and direct our lives.
Earl Nightingale, a motivational expert, has said, "wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; wherever there is opportunity, there lurks danger." Serving and doing what God has called us to do whether it involves seeking and saving souls, taking a stand against the immoral tide of a society, or challenging a brother or sister in Christ, has always been a risky business.
In Kindred Spirit, Larry Dinkins writes:
Sooner or later obedience to the Great Commission will involve risk. The buzz word today is not 'risk' but 'security.' Risk may be popular as a parlor game but not as a lifestyle. People are interested in social security, home security, secure savings and loans, and especially secure relationships. The problem is that our security-oriented culture tends to insulate us from the real needs around us while at the same time maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain.
Recently I heard Chuck Swindoll make this convicting observation. 'In the process of growing older we lose the desire to risk. It is a tragic loss. We become sophisticated, cautious, careful. We call it wisdom--it is cowardice, that's all. We are afraid to take giant steps of faith. We'd much rather stay near the shoreline than cast off into the deep. We want to know that our security will be down at the end of the road.'8
Dinkins also writes:
While on furlough I heard Dr. Keith Phillips, head of World Impact, give his testimony of commitment to the urban poor. For a while Dr. Phillips tried to minister in the Watts area of Los Angeles by commuting. But his slum ministry by long distance was not meeting needs. Finally he moved his family into public housing where he was still residing. During the first three months their apartment was robbed so often that they erected a sign: GO RIGHT IN, TAKE WHAT YOU WANT, PLEASE DO NOT BREAK THE LOCK.
Having been robbed repeatedly myself, I immediately identified with the Phillips family and risks they encountered. You may be thinking, 'That's fine for missionaries, but I don't plan to live in a slum, pick up a hitchhiker, or plant a church in hostile soil. How does all of this relate to me?' Good question. The first thing is to realize that risks are not confined to slum areas, interstates, or foreign fields. A difficult neighbor or recalcitrant relative can be just as threatening as a gang member from Watts or hitchhiker along the road. Building a bridge of friendship to someone of a different race or background in your community may be as big a hurdle as translation is for missionaries in Colombia.9
Again I am reminded of Daniel's words, "but the people who know their God will display strength and take action." Obviously, the big question is--how well do we really know our God?
7 William J. Federer, America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations, Fame Publishing Co., Coppell, TX, 1994, pp. 10-11.
8 Larry Dinkins, "At The End of The Road . . . Taking Risks to Achieve the Greater Reward," Kindred Spirit, Autum 1991.